Three Picturebooks to Explore, As a New School Year Starts Around.
Small children walking on sidewalks with backpacks bigger than themselves, lines of cars in school areas, yellow buses lowering their stop signs, for many in the US, the past couple of weeks have been associated with many indications that a new school year has started.
Madame Rigolotte took Maurice to an attic where one of the favorite items of the Rigolos can be found: picturebooks.
I can spend hours at the library or the bookstore, browsing picturebooks, as they offer so many nurturing opportunities to explore with young children — engaging stories, beautiful illustrations, various topics to discuss, intriguing characters. Picturebooks can be used in a classroom, in the home, but also in the bus, or a waiting room. Picturebooks can be read once, but most of the time, more than once, many times, allowing young children to be read to through different lenses; Picturebooks can hence open the door to early literacy, but also early mathematics, science, art, etc. In other words, picturebooks are one of those tools we often refer to on this blog, in our ongoing quest to elevate young children.
I am sharing below three picturebooks that align well with a new school year, opening the door to discussions that could reassure and energize both children and people caring for them.
The first book is School’s First Day of School, written by Adam Rex and illustrated by Christian Robinson.
This picturebook is a favorite of mine, for so many reasons: the plot is intriguing, as it unfolds a first day of school from a school’s perspective, the illustrations are beautiful, and the pool of characters is quite inclusive in terms of skin colors, abilities and disabilities, etc.
The length may be too long for children under five, but can easily be broken down. Once children have heard the story once, each page can be rediscovered again and again. I will actually use this book also when I dedicate a whole post on reading picturebooks through the lens of a mathematician, to stimulate mathematical thinking, but this week, I would focus on the plot in relation to a new school year.
The story covers the whole first day of school, with getting ready for the first day, the arrival of the children, recess, lunch, children learning about shapes, dismissal, and then reflecting on the first day, making it easy to focus on the whole day, or just part of the day.
How are you feeling about your first day of school? How do you think this child is feeling? What would you do if you were this child? Have you ever been in the same situation? What is your favorite thing to do during recess?
The second book is We Are in a Book, by Mo Willems.
Elephant and Piggie are well-known characters in many preschool and kindergarten settings. They are amusing, moving, mischievous, surprising, making those books both a pleasure to read for grown-ups and a pleasure to be read to for young children.
I am suggesting this one today because it provides a good way to discuss features of books — plot, characters, page numbers, and mostly, the role of the readers in reading bubbles characters may say.
And with Elephant and Piggies, reading those bubbles can bring a lot of giggles.
This book can be read again and again, to cheer up any audience who may need it. The more children are read to this book, the more they anticipate what the next page may bring, and it is priceless to witness the growing excitation of the audience. What an excellent way to plant seeds of the joy of reading into those young brains.
The third book is We Don’t Eat our Classmates, written by Ryan T. Higgins.
The story of this little dinosaur, Penelope, going to school for the first time, can lead to moving discussions around the struggles about joining a new class, making new friends, and overall, the concept of empathy.
Similarly to School’s First Day of School, the representation of characters is quite diverse, allowing children to witness the wealth of cultures of the world we live in. Since the publication of this book, Penelope has had additional adventures, so I am sure I will share more of Higgins’ picturebooks in future posts.
A new school year can brings all kind of emotions and picturebooks are a good way to informally enter young’s children brain to assess where they are, and the support they need. I hope you enjoy those three picturebooks as much as I do.
I am finishing with a video of Dr Sims Bishop, and her “mirrors, windows, and sliding glass doors” analogy towards the importance of diversity in picturebooks. I always keep in mind her words when I select new picturebooks.
What about you? What picturebooks would you suggest to guide young children as they transition to a new school year? Feel free to share your thoughts through the comment section, or the contact form.
As always, thank you for being here, and see you next week.
Higgins, R. T. (2018). We Don’t Eat Our Classmates!. Disney-Hyperion.
Rex, A. (2016). School’s first day of school. Macmillan.
Willems, M. (2010). We are in a Book!. New York: Hyperion Books for Children.